Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Investors are still trying to make sense of how far the U.S. Federal Reserve will go in its fight against inflation. U.S. futures spent much of the early morning making a slow climb out of negative territory after choppy reaction to yesterday’s minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, in which the decision-makers underscored the need to act “with resolve.” The recap from that meeting also showed that “some” participants said it would be wise to maintain the policy rate “for some time” once it reaches “a sufficiently restrictive level.” As a sidebar theme, the minutes also indicated there’s an eagerness to implement a “robust supervisory and regulatory framework” for digital assets as they take on greater importance for overall financial stability.

We’ll point out here that we’re speaking with San Francisco Federal Reserve executive vice-president and director of research Sylvain Leduc, who was previously deputy governor at the Bank of Canada, at 4:40 p.m. ET.  

TACKLING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

We have a clear takeaway from our online traffic: there’s a lot of pent-up demand for the First Home Savings Account. That’s the new registered plan that the feds unveiled in the last budget, and which is attracting more interest these days after the finance department recently unveiled draft legislative proposals. If you missed it, check out our primer here. We’ll dive deeper into the affordability theme with National Bank chief economist and strategist Stéfane Marion shortly after 1 p.m. ET. And before that, we’ll catch up with Mike Moffatt from the Smart Prosperity Institute — he has some doubts about the Ontario government’s home-building goals.

ENBRIDGE BOLSTERS CASH FLOW

You know the news isn’t straightforward when it takes a flow chart to illustrate what’s happening. And that was the case after markets closed yesterday, when Enbridge and Phillips 66 announced a shuffling of stakes in Gray Oak Pipeline LLC and DCP Midstream. The key takeaway for investors is that Enbridge said the move will immediately boost its distributable cash flow and send US$400 million into its coffers.        

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• Cisco Systems offered an encouraging snapshot of enterprise spending after markets closed yesterday, as the network equipment and service provider said its product orders and backlog are at record highs; it also forecast more robust revenue growth for its fiscal first quarter and full year than analysts were anticipating.
• Canaccord Genuity said this morning it might repurchase up to five per cent of its common shares. The company’s stock has plummeted 41 per cent this year, compared to a six per cent dip for the TSX financials subgroup.
• Bed, Bath & Beyond shares abruptly tumbled late yesterday after word surfaced (via a regulatory filing from the previous day) that RC Ventures, one of the retailer’s top shareholders, might be about to sell the vast majority of its stake.  
• We’ll watch shares in Hut 8 Mining today after the Toronto-based crypto miner announced it may raise up to US$200 million in at-the-market share sales on the Nasdaq.
• Canadian Solar shares have been climbing after the company beat second-quarter revenue expectations and raised its full-year forecast. 

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: Canadian industrial product and raw materials price indices, and Teranet/National Bank home price index; U.S. initial jobless claims and existing home sales
• 900: U.S. Federal Reserve and Comptroller of the Currency hold joint public meeting on TD’s acquisition of First Horizon